First Glimpses of South Padre

Well, my first impression of this new-to-us place is a definite thumbs up.  The beach is pretty and expansive with plenty of room to run and play.  Off season, it is neither crowded nor deserted.  Perfect really.  There's a bar with a huge deck right on the beach and close to our access path.  We will be checking that out some afternoon.
Our condo is within walking distance to almost everything we need--the big exception being the grocery store.  Today, Madeleine and I walked to several different places in honor of her birthday--more on that later--and late this afternoon, we all walked the short distance to a kind of nature preserve/wetlands with pretty walkways in every direction.  We watched a beautiful sunset and saw many of God's creatures.  I look forward to repeating that activity several more times while we're here.  I'm sad my mom isn't here to share it.  She would love it (and be able to tell me the names of all of the birds and things we saw).
All-in-all, South Padre is number one on my list of our Gulf beach get-aways.  I hope the rest of the week confirms that rather hasty ruling.

I am having a wonderful time taking pictures here.  So much scope for the photographic imagination...
A few of them:

These people were holding paddles standing on what looked like surf boards

first time in

Farkle Frenzy for four

Grace asked me to take her across to the sound side.

We found a parrot...

....and a hammock

Mia used to love water towers...

now, she's almost as tall as one :)

critter with a purpose

handsome critter bird and sky watching

Love this one...

New goal: to take one where the birds fill the whole frame.

One last glimpse

This may give you a good idea of the temp of the water in the pool.  

I took the photo from our back porch.  I suspect the hot tub will be very popular all visit.

Off to eat cake!  See you back here next time for the next to last post of the year!